What a difference a year makes: From silly knock knock jokes to…

…complex thoughts. My grandson is visiting, with my daughter of course. A year ago on this day, I posted thoughts about my surgery and my grandson. I reveled in plans for the Christmas we would share and used that as a motivation to get the repair and move on with my life. Christmas went well and as I have mentioned, my wonderful boyfriend arranged for my daughter and our grandson to visit for Labor Day weekend. They arrived last night.

If you are a grandparent, you are likely to relate well to the joy I feel seeing this beautiful child. He has grown so much since Christmas and is so much more talkative. And he has opinons now, complex thoughts. Like his mother and grandmother, he is not afraid to express his thougths and feelings. Evidently he entertained many on the airplane and even met someone from the Governor’s office who gave him business cards (oops, we left them on the table at Denny’s). At the restaurant, he received compliments and smiles from people sitting near us. And after all of that excitement, on the long drive home, he fell asleep.

Not to worry though, upon arriving at home and before he was even out of the car seat, he was greeted by our Shih Tzu (Izu). She jumped into the car and was sniffing and trying to lick him. Our grandson commented, “I am going to have fun.” Whether that was a comment about the visit or about torturing Izu will remain to be seen. We got everyone into the house, set up sleeping arrangements and then sat down to relax for a few minutes while we watched a 3 1/2 year old play fetch for the dog. He would throw a toy and then Izu would run to get it, but would be confused when the toy was picked up and then thrown again. This went on for a while until it became apparent that everyone needed to get some rest.

We had some drama as the night ended. Our grandson was VERY tired and became homesick for Daddy. He wanted to take an airplane and go back home. He did eventually calm down and slept fitfully.

Never fear, he awakened this morning, favorite car in hand and greeted me. He then said, “Gramma, I don’t want to go home now.” As you can imagine, I am glad he changed his mind.